Through the Iris
by SephiChan
Summary: The ShinraWutai war. Songfic for Through the Iris by 10 Years. Mild Sephiroth x Zack.
1. Cherish

I started this a while back... got 5 pages into it and sort of lost motivation.  
I still plan on finishing it at some point, but I figured I should post what I have completed so far so I don't just... forget about it.

Mild Sephiroth x Zack.

* * *

Explosions and airship engines rattled the Planet and sky alike. If the noise had been any louder, it certainly would have made the heavens crash down upon the battlefield beneath them. Such a thing would probably cause less damage than the fighting below, anyway. Sephiroth hoped for it. He commanded a unit of the SOLDIER army sent out by Shinra, here. But the war was chaotic now. Wutain troops were masters of stealth and their efforts had thrown his unit into frenzy.

Shouting orders at the top of his lungs, the General was blatantly ignored. Men scrambled past him in terror, paying him no mind regardless of what he did to catch their attention. Only recently promoted, he was beginning to doubt his ability to handle the situation. All around him, his own men were being ripped apart by spells and bombs.

He'd like to think that they were doing plenty of their own damage, but there was no such proof to confirm this.

_Cherish._

Amongst the chaos around him, one SOLDIER in Sephiroth's unit stood by calmly; he'd positioned himself low in the tall grass of the plane. He lied there with the gigantic sword he wielded resting beside him. Only because the General stood could he see the man there—one of the few First-Class SOLDIERS in this unit—and knew that Shinra did have some sense, considering who they promoted.

Thank the heavens that Zack knew what he was doing.

_Two circular hues of blue with a gray shade;  
__So captivating._

While most of the unit darted about uncontrolled, some wandering too far out and getting mowed down my materia casters, Sephiroth's attention focused on Zack. His behavior was a sharp contrast to that of the other men on his side. Hands over his head, he seemed to be calmly biding for the panic to subside before righting himself and continuing the fight.

Perhaps Sephiroth should have followed this lead to begin with. Then maybe he'd have a firmer grip on his men's behavior. Stupidly, he bided there momentarily, just taking in how composed the other man was despite hell-on-earth reigning around him. This man was a true soldier.

_More than you know._

Suddenly, a blast sounded too close by for comfort, and as dirt and grass was uprooted and flung in the General's direction, he dove to the ground. Luckily, he had aimed true and landed next to Zack. Immediately, gloved hands flew over the back of his silver head of hair. He didn't even know where his sword had fallen—he'd dropped it long ago.

Surely as a result of this maneuver, Sephiroth heard other men hitting the ground around him. Good. If they could just lie low and recuperate, the Wutains would wear thin and hold off on attacking further. Or at least he hoped such would be the case.

It took a moment before Sephiroth glanced to his left and saw that Zack was looking at him. Instead of a mocking, egotistical expression as the General had expected, the brunette's face seemed to silently speak relief. The fact that his commanding officer had realized the best option was a comfort.

Aqua eyes locked with the subordinate's for a moment and they lingered in silence until another bomb shook the earth upon which they lay. Almost simultaneously, the men stuck their noses back into the dirt and flattened their bodies in hopes to remain hidden from view in the grass. For now, they were safe. Hopefully the other men that had dropped and covered were in one piece as well.

_False perceptions…_

Every second that ticked by felt like an hour, and with little else to keep his mind off of the horrific sights he'd seen on the battlefield, Sephiroth began to count explosions. From time to time, they occurred frighteningly close, showering him and likely anyone near him in a light coat of dust.

It was approximately the seventh bomb that the General counted that sounded far too close. The blast not only spewed more chunks of earth at Sephiroth, but it nearly knocked him sideways. A muffled cry sounded somewhere to the left of him, and his heart leapt into his throat. Had it been the other First-Class?

Only moving his head and arms slightly, Sephiroth stole a glace at the man lying alongside him. Face still buried against the ground, his body was rocking from side to side slightly in a writhing motion. It was as though Zack was trying to shake pain away from him, but the General couldn't tell exactly what was wrong.

They had only fooled themselves into thinking hiding in the grasses upon which they fought was the best option; Zack's left arm was bleeding heavily at the bicep after that blast, bits of soil sticking in the liquid. He had sustained damage from the last bomb—a fist-sized shard of shrapnel protruded from his flesh.

_That brought forth these questions of  
__Truth, love and hope…_

Only upon observing the damage did Sephiroth come to realize that he was sitting up further than he should have been, craning to see the injury. He was no doctor, but knew Zack had to get out of there. The man wouldn't be able to wield such a weighty weapon with an injury like that. But more prominently, something stung at the General's heart. One of the few other First-Class men in the unit was more or less disabled now. And off of the battlefield, Zack had made an effort to get to know Sephiroth better than most. The brunette had always blamed it on his amiable nature. Very few people tended to care to get to know him whatsoever, satisfied with the perception most had of him as the Shinra prodigy.

Though Sephiroth could not think of anyone else he would risk his life for right now, Zack topped the list. They were sitting ducks, but he wouldn't leave his comrade there.

"I'm getting you out of here," he hissed, straining to be heard above the sounds of war.

Zack responded by simply restraining his writhing and turning his head to rest his cheek on the ground. He was biting hard into his bottom lip; eyes squinted nearly closed as he endured the pain without making another sound.

_Now that you're injuring,  
__I carry you with me, just  
__Please hold on._

Shooting to his feet, the General spun around and back again, taking in his men—some injured, some not; some cowering in the grass, some not—and bellowed: "Back to the camp!" Many of the men heard this first order, but just to be sure, he followed-up: "RETREAT!"

Zack began to push himself up using his intact right arm, but Sephiroth was already swooping down to assist him. Hoisting the fellow SOLIDER as Zack hooked his good arm across his General's shoulders, they began to trek off away from the field.

Sephiroth moved as quickly as possible, oftentimes feeling Zack stumble beside him. Neither spoke along the way, but he could feel the subordinate's eyes on the side of his face most of the time. Surely he was confused as to why his boss would risk his own neck just for him. But words were not necessary right now; survival was.

Mentally, the General begged whatever gods, spirits, or supernatural beings watching over the war to just let them out of there in one piece. If they had to die, he wouldn't mind going later. As for now, Sephiroth needed to just get back to the camp with his companion. They'd have to be okay, just this time. The Wutains should be far enough away in the field that they wouldn't be followed, but the airships above could blow them away at any moment.


	2. Disappear

Shorter than the first chapter simply because the first chapter consisted of one verse, and this is the chorus. (Wait, a CHAPTERED songfic?) Yes, a chaptered songfic. Because I got far too into writing this, so.  
There will be more to come, but so far this is all I've written.

* * *

_Disappear and dissolve…_

The sounds of fire and death were quieting behind them, signifying the distance that the pair had made across the plain. Surely, they were vanishing from their enemies' sights. Sephiroth could feel his comrade's grip tighten over the pauldron on his right shoulder in tension. They had to make it out alive…

"We're almost there," Zack quietly offered in reassurance. Just like him to be a bleeding optimist.

_A weakening wall  
__Will one day fall._

Sephiroth's mako eyes widened, seeing a rather large shell dropping not too far ahead. He had only seconds to react, but instinctively knocked Zack to the ground, dropping tightly beside him with an arm over the other man's back. Seconds before fully hitting the ground, a terrifying rumble shook the scene. Screams rang out somewhere in front of them. Glancing up but continuing to hold Zack safely down, the General observed the field ahead: half or more of his unit had been strewn in a bloodied, charred mess about the plain. His breath caught in his throat. Their camp would not be a safe destination if they had to cross through the storm of bombs.

Zack managed to wrench free of the arm holding him to the ground, sitting up in a similar fashion to take in the damage ahead. His jaw nearly dropped. "Bal… Cameron…" he murmured in disbelief. Had his friends been in there?

_It's wise to sever our loss._

These names were not unfamiliar to the unit's commanding officer. They were men that had been serving under him, men he'd seen spending time with Zack. However close they had been was unimportant now, as sitting there would not save them. Mourning would not bring the men back and getting killed themselves wouldn't be any better.

"We leave, now." Tugging a reluctant Zack back to his feet, Sephiroth once more began to barrel across the expanse of grassland with him. Only now, they headed in a different direction: to the mountains.

The rest of the run went by at surprising speed. Zack had seemed to regain his composure quite quickly, though it was certain the shock of war had not completely faded from his mind. It'd take time for that, for both of them.

_I redefine pulse  
__Through your iris._

Meeting with the rocky base, a search of only a few minutes proved fruitful: Sephiroth found a shallow cave for them to take shelter in. Moments after entering, before they had even the time to sit, another bomb decimated another handful of their unit. Zack was clearly going into shock. His eyes widened and good arm withdrew from Sephiroth's shoulders, reaching in his fallen comrades' direction. As he moved to pull himself from his General's aiding grasp, he was stopped.

Sephiroth would have none of that. "We can't go back." The brunette, letting a tearless sob escape, flexed his fingers and dropped his arm. He was mentally exhausted and he knew those words were true. There was no saving the men still out in the field. Luck was all that could now be relied upon for anyone else to reach safety.

Carefully weighting pressure down on the other SOLDIER's good shoulder, Sephiroth forced him into a sitting position. Zack couldn't resist the motion, shaken from injury and shock. His eyes did not leave the cave entrance until the General dropped down across from him. Their gazes met again, shocked eyes meeting war-worn hues. They breathed heavily from their run, hearts pounding more loudly than the dropping bombs outside.


End file.
